Hofner-(not just Beatle Basses)-Group Part 2

#2,841
Averell said:
So it's finally here... I've now a proud member of the Hofner Club since last week.
View attachment 5425069
First : It's gorgeous ! It's beautiful. And it also sounds great. Love it !

On the dark side, when it arrived, the neck pickup was dislodged. And strings were also not aligned with the pickups, just like @LeMaartien (but in mine the strings are too much towards the G string), and the E string sounded off. I moved the bridge, and now strings are aligned (and E string sounds fine), but it makes an angle at the bridge : the tailpiece is not centered on the neck. Not much, but I'm afraid it will make the bridge move towards the G string again.
View attachment 5425074
I'll take it to my luthier for fixing the bridge, fix the intonation, and see if we can move the tailpiece a little.

Also : the bass comes with Schaller Strap Locks pins, but the strap (given with the bass) doesn't have the strap locks. So dumb ! The neck is huge, and the ergonomy is... well... not good. Playing with a strap the bass turns towards my feet, and I must keep it balanced with my forearm, and it hurts. Strings are also close to each other, and playing with fingers is difficult (at least for me, but I think that bass is meant to be played with a pick). The neck is also bigger than my Fender's.

In conclusion : it's a great bass, it's very beautiful, it's a piece of art, and I like to see it hanging on the wall. The sound is very nice. But ergonomically, I prefer my Fenders (and I think I'll keep my PB or my JB as workhorse). I definitely need some more practice to be accustomed to this new bass. And too bad that at this price I need to fix some annoyance at the luthier. But I love it !
Click to expand...

Firstly congrats on getting a beautiful looking bass I hope you have many happy years owning & playing it. I'm sure the nut width is 42mm so not as different as a Fender P when you take it to your luthier, see about having the fingerboard edges rolled this may help with the feel of the neck in your hand.
I play with a pick always have but a few reggae players who used a 500/1 bass, played with their fingers so both ways can be done just takes time to feel comfortable whichever style you use.

Last year after almost 20 + years I got it out of the case again as I had started to experience pain in my Left hand, bought a cheap set of Hofner HCT flatwounds and tried again to bond back with my bass.
The strings have been changed to the German made Hofner flatwounds, and the bass has never been anywhere, near it's case since the Fender P is now put away the Hofner is all I use now.
 
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#2,842
Averell said:
So it's finally here... I've now a proud member of the Hofner Club since last week.
View attachment 5425069
First : It's gorgeous ! It's beautiful. And it also sounds great. Love it !

On the dark side, when it arrived, the neck pickup was dislodged. And strings were also not aligned with the pickups, just like @LeMaartien (but in mine the strings are too much towards the G string), and the E string sounded off. I moved the bridge, and now strings are aligned (and E string sounds fine), but it makes an angle at the bridge : the tailpiece is not centered on the neck. Not much, but I'm afraid it will make the bridge move towards the G string again.
View attachment 5425074
I'll take it to my luthier for fixing the bridge, fix the intonation, and see if we can move the tailpiece a little.

Also : the bass comes with Schaller Strap Locks pins, but the strap (given with the bass) doesn't have the strap locks. So dumb ! The neck is huge, and the ergonomy is... well... not good. Playing with a strap the bass turns towards my feet, and I must keep it balanced with my forearm, and it hurts. Strings are also close to each other, and playing with fingers is difficult (at least for me, but I think that bass is meant to be played with a pick). The neck is also bigger than my Fender's.

In conclusion : it's a great bass, it's very beautiful, it's a piece of art, and I like to see it hanging on the wall. The sound is very nice. But ergonomically, I prefer my Fenders (and I think I'll keep my PB or my JB as workhorse). I definitely need some more practice to be accustomed to this new bass. And too bad that at this price I need to fix some annoyance at the luthier. But I love it !
Click to expand...

I don't have the problem of neck dive with my 500/1s, but I use a leather strap. Did you try a leather strap?
 
#2,843
Doctor Intrepid said:
I don't have the problem of neck dive with my 500/1s, but I use a leather strap. Did you try a leather strap?
Click to expand...

It’s not a neck dive (the bass is perfectly balanced, the neck stays in position). The bass turns around itself, along the strings axis, towards my feet. So all I can see is its back. Like that :
IMG_7792.jpeg

And yes, it's a leather strap.
 
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#2,845
Averell said:
It’s not a neck dive (the bass is perfectly balanced, the neck stays in position). The bass turns around itself, along the strings axis, towards my feet. So all I can see is its back. Like that :
View attachment 5425181

And yes, it's a leather strap.
Click to expand...

My Ignition tended to turn its face towards my feet, but that's because it was up against a big belly that I swear wasn't there just a short while ago! I cured it with a McCartney trick of getting a leather strap loop and attaching it to the tailpiece. This basically bends the face of the instrument up more towards me. Some folks say this might affect the intonation but I haven't noticed that.

I play it with a pick and with practice got used to the string spacing. I tend to use different basses at different gigs and a Precision, a short scale acoustic/electric plus the Höfner all get regular playing time. I have learned to adapt to different scale lengths, nut widths, etc. as part of my warm-up before hand. I also vary my practice time basses.
 
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#2,846
Averell said:
It’s not a neck dive (the bass is perfectly balanced, the neck stays in position). The bass turns around itself, along the strings axis, towards my feet. So all I can see is its back. Like that :
View attachment 5425181

And yes, it's a leather strap.
Click to expand...

I see. I now understand what you mean. I place mine to the side and so I don't have that issue. That is how I would wear any bass, so it is not a big deal for me. I think some folks where it high or low to avoid that issue.
 
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#2,847
Averell said:
It’s not a neck dive (the bass is perfectly balanced, the neck stays in position). The bass turns around itself, along the strings axis, towards my feet. So all I can see is its back. Like that :
View attachment 5425181

And yes, it's a leather strap.
Click to expand...

they usually provide a small piece of leather like a thick string. You slide the strap Underneath the fingerboard around the body and then tie it together with the strap, and that will help prevent the base from bending outward. I had the same issue until I did that if you look at Paul McCartney pictures from the 60s or 70s, you’ll see that it was done on his base that way as well and usually with the strap they include instructions and directions on how to do it.
 
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#2,852
Michael Eisenman said:
In what way did the new control panel change the sound of the Ignition?
Click to expand...

Clarity, tonal range. The printed board that comes with the Ignitions in effect acts like cheap potentiometers. The German board has real components that act as they should. It's not just the knob colors.

German on the left, Chinese on the right.
controls.jpg
 
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#2,853
JohnMalay said:
Clarity, tonal range. The printed board that comes with the Ignitions in effect acts like cheap potentiometers. The German board has real components that act as they should. It's not just the knob colors.

German on the left, Chinese on the right.
View attachment 5431360
Click to expand...
I made that mod on my Contemporary Club and the difference was subtle, but noticeable. It was an easy mod except for the 1/4" plug. It's very short (in fact I think you can see it in the picture above) so I was barely able to get the nut to bite and turn maybe just a quarter. I worry about it falling off. Not sure what I can do to improve that. Otherwise, worth the upgrade.
 
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#2,854
dwellers said:
I made that mod on my Contemporary Club and the difference was subtle, but noticeable. It was an easy mod except for the 1/4" plug. It's very short (in fact I think you can see it in the picture above) so I was barely able to get the nut to bite and turn maybe just a quarter. I worry about it falling off. Not sure what I can do to improve that. Otherwise, worth the upgrade.
Click to expand...
Oh, and just for s's and g's I took out my old control panel to compare. Not sure what all the splatter is on it but it much more closely resembles the Ignition than the German.

IMG_1093.jpeg
 
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#2,855
The Contemporarys are made in China and seem to also have soldered boards.

The side walls on the Contemporary are thicker and thus that shallow jack plug barely makes it through. The Ignitions and 500/1s have thinner sides. I've never had a Contemporary but I did have an Epiphone Viola with similar construction and it had much thicker side walls as well (which is why it weighed twice as much as a hollow body Höfner).

You could always just splice/solder your old jack and jack wires to the new board. Then you would have a jack long enough to fit through.
 
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#2,859
But how do the German Control Panels fit on the Ignition?
According to North Coast Music: German and Contemporary Control Panels Dimensions: ~4.16" long (~4 3/16") by ~1.25" (1¼") wide while the ignition Size: ~4.45" (~113mm) x ~1.56" (~40mm).
 
#2,860
DrSteve said:
But how do the German Control Panels fit on the Ignition?
According to North Coast Music: German and Contemporary Control Panels Dimensions: ~4.16" long (~4 3/16") by ~1.25" (1¼") wide while the ignition Size: ~4.45" (~113mm) x ~1.56" (~40mm).
Click to expand...

Those Ignition dimensions might not be right, unless they changed for the SE versions. I've just measured my (non-SE) Ignition Club and the panel is 104.48 (4.11") x 31.7 (1.25"), so very much in line with those German/HCT dimensions. Obviously it has 4 screws, not 2.
 
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